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Global CE Sales Will Rise 4% In 2017: GfK

After a flat 2016, the value of global CE product sales are projected to rise 4 percent this year, according to GfK forecasts presented by Hans-Joachim Kamp, chairman of the supervisory board of GFU, the German equivalent of the Consumer Technology Association and co-organizer of IFA.

With other optimistic estimates for how this year will turn out for home electronics, Kamp noted that sales of Ultra HD TVs (especially OLED), smartphones, Bluetooth speakers, headphones, wearables and smartphones will all rise all over the world.

And by 2020, more than a third of all TVs sold will be larger than 50 inches.

According to Kamp, global CE sales of home electronics and appliances will reach €887 billion in 2017 compared to €852 billion in 2016, which represented a 2 percent drop from the previous year.

Fueling this rise in sales are the increasing popularity — and higher price points — of Ultra HD TVs. Kamp reported that 75 million 4K TVs will be sold in 2017, a rise of 40 percent over 2016. Sales of OLED models are due to jump an impressive 122 percent to 1.2 million units thanks to the plethora of largely European brands that introduced OLED sets using LG sourced panels this year.

Not only are more Ultra HD TVs are being sold, but larger Ultra HD TVs as well. Last year, 18 percent of TV buyers opted for models 50 to 59 inches, representing 40.7 million units, while 5 percent bought sets 60 inches or larger, or 11.6 million units. But this year, sales of 50- to 59-inch sets jumped to 22 percent of all TVs sold, and 60-inch-plus models rose to 7 percent of the TV market. By 2020, GfK prognosticates that 26 percent of TVs sold will be 50 to 59 inches and 11 percent will comprise sets 60 inches or larger.

Overall, the average screen size sold will rise from 43.7 inches this year to 46.7 inches by 2020.

Smartphones Sales Keep Rising

One of the fastest growing global product categories are wearables, with 161 million units projected to be sold around the world this year, a 38 percent growth.

Sales of Bluetooth speakers also continue to surge, due to leap 21 percent this year to 55 million units globally, while sales of headphones of all stripes will bloom to 368 million units, a modest 4 percent increase.

Sales of smartphones worldwide continue to climb, and will reach a staggering 1.5 billion in 2017, a 5 percent boost. But continuing their decade-long downward slide, sales of standalone digital cameras will drop 18 percent to a mere 28 million units, while action cam purchases will accelerate 9 percent to 11 million units.